This Dharma Talk was recorded in Upper Hamlet, Plum VIllage France on 20th June 2023 during our Earth Retreat with the title “Love is Freedom”.

Freedom is possible with our mindful breathing and mindful walking.

Breathe in and focus your attention on your in-breath. Your in-breath becomes the only object of your mind, you are concentrated on your in-breath, you are mindful of your in-breath. You release the past, the future and your worries and you become a free person. If you want to keep that freedom, you can breathe out mindfully. Breathing out, you focus your concentration on your out-breath.

One breath can bring you home to ther here and the now. One step can also bring you home to the here and the now. From the parking lot to the office, you may like to walk in such a way that every step release the tension in your body. Every step bring you home to the here and the now so you can touch the wonders of life available in you and around you.

The seventh exercise of mindful breathing is to recognize the painful feeling in us. Breathing in, I am aware of the painful feeling in me. Breathing out, I smile to the painful feeling in me. The eighth exercise is to calm down the painful feeling. Mindfulness is like a mother holding the child of suffering. The first thing you do is to use the energy of mindfulness to recognize the painful feeling. The second thing is to use mindfulness to embrace the painful feeling tenderly.

Exercise five is to generate a feeling of joy. Exercise six is to generate happiness. A good practitioner can always generate a feeling of joy and happiness whenever he or she wants.

Help us caption & translate this video!

https://amara.org/v/DqWy/

on the 14th of June 2022, we had a wonderful music and poetry concert to celebrate 40 years of the Plum Village tradition.

The concert was part of a two-week long mindfulness practice retreat, with the theme “Now We Have a Path, We Have Nothing to Fear”, held in Plum Village, France.

In the Sutra on the Eight Realizations of Great Beings, we read “the mind is always looking outside of itself and never feels fulfilled”. How can we overcome this constant running and come back to our true home?

The obstacle to our peace of mind is our inability to dwell in the present moment. In this Dharma Talk, Sister True Virtue shares how we can practice the 4 establishments of mindfulness as well as the 16 exercises of mindful breathing in order to get out of the state of dispersion of our mind. Rather than trying to attain something, we can experience each breathing exercise with ease. If we give ourselves a chance to recognise and accept a painful feeling, we can be at peace.

We also have the example of Ancestral Teachers who practiced being fulfilled in the present moment. Master Tang Hoi, King Tran Thai Thong, King Tran Nhan Thong, and Master Nhat Dinh, are all real examples of applied and engaged Buddhism. In the midst of a busy life, they were able to be at peace and share the practice with countless people.

Please enjoy the first Dharma Talk of the Plum Village Online New Year’s Retreat.

Find out more about Sister True Dedication : https://plumvillage.org/people/dharma-teachers/sister-hien-nghiem/

Thich Nhat Hanh offers this dharma talk at Deer Park Monastery during the Colors of Compassion Retreat on March 25, 2004.

Letting go is not about suppressing or denying our experiences, but rather acknowledging and accepting them with compassion and understanding. By embracing impermanence and non-attachment, we can free ourselves from the burden of past regrets and future worries, and cultivate a deeper sense of peace and freedom in the present moment.

Brother Phap Dung, a senior monastic in the Plum Village Zen Tradition, explores these concepts further in this talk, providing guidance on how to cultivate the power of cutting off and letting go in our daily lives, and how it can contribute to our overall well-being and inner peace.

Before taking a deep dive into our suffering, practicing mindfulness according to the breathing exercises taught in the Anapanasati Sutta increases our capacity for happiness and joy. In this way, we are able to hold our deep suffering.

Thay regularly taught his students to balance the spiritual life among the four spiritual pillars: work/service, practice, study, and play. Sister Trai Nghiem offered concrete examples of practicing the four pillars and posed these questions for us to ponder in our lives as mindfulness practitioners.

How do we enjoy and create joy in our daily activities?
How do we know if the work we are doing is supporting the purpose of our life?

To end the Dharma Talk, Sr. Trang Tu Hieu and Sr. Trang Hien Tam offered the song “The Sun is Rising”, composed by Sr. Trang Tu Hieu.

The flower only exists if we are present for it. Life is miraculous. Only when we are present are we fully living.

What are the things that stop us from fully living? It is our worries, fears, physical pain, regrets, shame, frustration … The practice of mindfulness helps us to not suppress difficult or strong emotions when they arise. This avoids creating internal knots that may become stronger over time.

We learn to recognize our strong emotions, embrace them so the seeds in the depth of consciousness weaken. Only then are we able to clearly see the roots of suffering. When we practice together, we are building a community that, in the face of collective despair, is resilient.

Through songs, poetry, and her precious moments with Thay, Sister Tại Nghiêm (Sister “Adornment with Presence”) inspires us to grow the seeds of mindfulness.

We all have aspirations, dreams, joys and sorrows deep in our hearts.
But are we aware that anything we want to cultivate needs food to grow?

In Buddhist psychology, we learn that there are four kinds of nutriments: edible food, sense impressions, volition, and consciousness.

In terms of edible food, are we consuming in a way that sustains our health and nourishes our heart of compassion?

As for sense impressions, do we take the time to develop friendship and bonding in our daily lives or are we constantly being hooked to our devices? Do we recognize the stress, intensity and addiction that spending so much time on our devices brings about for ourselves, our family and our society?

When it comes to volition, we are speaking about our deep aspiration. What kind of aspirations do we pursue in life? The Five Mindfulness Trainings give us very clear and concrete guidelines on how to live our daily life with compassion and the insight of interbeing. We need the awareness and determination of every individual on Earth to reverse the process of global warming.

The fourth kind of nutriment, consciousness, is both individual and collective. For us to be able to realize our potential, we need to be in a wholesome environment. With the practice and the sangha, we can generate mindfulness and love for us and others to take refuge in.

from 2022 11 03, Rains Retreat, Lay Day, Talk 7.

How can we embrace our ancestors that we have never met?

This and the below questions were addressed by Brother Phap Huu and Sister True Dedication in this “a-la-carte Dharma Talk”.

* How can we understand our deep suffering from our store consciousness, especially circumstances inherited from our family?
* How do I practice compassion and reconciliation when I’ve decided to cut ties or establish boundaries with family members?
* What is the difference between letting go and giving up?
* What are your experiences while meditating?
* How to keep a balance between attachment and support in spiritual friendships?

Did you know that even zen monks and nuns have boundaries and need to know their own capacities while practicing mindfulness in the sangha? Brother Phap Huu and Sister Hien Nghiem shared their personal experiences on the importance of having spiritual friendships, supporting one another on the path, and that by setting boundaries, we are compassionate to ourselves and love is more accessible for others when we are recharged.

Acknowledging our capacities in our individual practice, we imagine ourselves sitting on a boat peeking at our suffering. We don’t need to go seeking for the sea monsters deep in the abyss of our store consciousness. With the practice of mindfulness, our suffering naturally arise from our store consciousness. When suffering or habits arises, we can be curious and ask “who are you?” Allowing us to be curious about which of our ancestors are present in us; whether or not we have met them. When we come to retreats, we think that we are going “alone.” In fact, we are bringing our whole family and ancestral lineage. If we are lucky, we will be renewed and have a deeper taste of what it means to be human.

This Dharma Talk was recorded on the 6th of June 2023, in Lower Hamlet, Plum Village France, as part of the retreat “Finding our True Home”.

To feel love, be loved, and to share love is the spiritual need of human beings. This is the heart of our spiritual path: how to grow to a state of boundless love that is not restrained by any conditions.

Sister Lực Nghiêm (“Sister Power”) dives deeply into the 6 ingredients of the path: motivation, determination, patience, inspiration, creativity and courage.

Why do we seek a community of practice? Can we break through the ideas we have about ourselves as we reflection on our motivations on the spiritual path?
We might have the willingness to change – and at times there is clarity about what changes we need to implement, but there are many layers to that change.

As we let go of our thinking, our ego (“manas” in Buddhist tradition), we return to simply being a living being, to be fully present in the present. When we surrender to the present moment, we touch our suffering and can find compassion for ourselves. This will then flow into other people’s hearts. Our constant thinking prevents us from getting in touch with the source of life, which is love.

As the new year begins to unfold, we have the opportunity to look back: What have we cultivated in ourselves in 2022? Was there a habit energy that manifested strongly, carrying us away? And how about our relationships? Were we able to cultivate deep friendship? Do we hold pain inside of us about how we have been relating to our loved ones?

Whatever might come up in us, we can train ourselves to recognize, accept, and look deeply into it. Acceptance is a deep practice of being at ease with ourselves, knowing that we have a path of practice to follow and to enjoy.

As we get in touch with our struggles and suffering, we also see that others have their owns to bear. We begin to develop more patience and kindness. We come to see ourselves and others as human beings, manifesting based on many conditions. By practicing like this, we cultivate our capacity to love.

What is the spiritual meaning of Christmas in our times? In a society of consumerism where we can easily feel alienated, we are longing for an atmosphere of simplicity and love.

If the most important element of Christmas is our brotherhood, sisterhood, and siblinghood, then how can we practice in order to generate this true kind of love?

Sister Chan Duc (True Virtue) shares how love is made of understanding. To truly love someone, we need to understand that person. And to understand them, we need to have good communication based on deep listening, loving speech, and openness. This journey starts by coming back inside of ourselves to listen to our own pain, rather than blaming someone for it.

As we walk on the path of understanding and love, we can also keep in mind that understanding is boundless. We always learn something new about the other person and by doing so, we also learn more about ourselves. We learn to see what is not immediately visible in us and in others, and our understanding and love grow more and more each day.

In Zen, we often say that the moment of death is the moment that reveals how we have been practicing. Indeed, the fear of dying is the base for all other fears. As practitioners, death should be an object of our contemplation.

Sister Insight shares her experience of practicing in a way that helps her to let go of clinging, of suffering and of perceptions. Contemplating death brings us back to what is most essential in life and helps us to live each day fully and meaningfully. We become determined to live our life with kindness and love and to savor every moment.

Experiencing the death of a beloved one, or grieving over the state of our planet, are also difficult moments in our lives. Even though there is the teaching of impermanence, a loved one’s passing still is a loss. And in addition to the loss, we might be struggling with guilt and regret inside of our heart.

Sister Insight shares her personal experience of having gone through the loss of her mother and her teacher. Taking refuge in the Sangha, getting in touch with Mother Earth, taking refuge in the island of self and dwelling in the present moment, were the four key practices that helped her.

Below are some reflection questions and home practices to help us bring the teachings from Sister Insight’s talk into daily life. 

1. Letting go of guilt and regret

“When our loved ones die, it is our guilt and regret that eat into us.” (Sister Insight)

• Look into the causes and conditions that came together to contribute to the situation that you regret or feel guilty about. Is it really “you” and “you” alone who was responsible?
• Write a letter to our loved ones who have passed away and express your regret.
• What were their joys, passions, and dreams? How can you continue to live those joys, passions, and fulfill their dreams?
• Offer your love and care to those who are alive, right by your side, and you will experience what Thay means by “In true love, there is no separation between the lover and the beloved”.

2. Going through grief and loss

• Take refuge in the sangha, in a community of practice. 
• Get in touch with Mother Earth and see the interbeing of the elements inside and outside of ourselves. 
• Breathe mindfully, stay present, see clearly, and do not run away from or suppress emotions.
• Recognize the stories that are the “second arrows” –  smile to them and let them go.

Practicing the Six Harmonies is a deep practice to ensure a long life in the Sangha and continue on the path of transformation with our spiritual friends, even when facing difficulties in communication.

If we are still unable to deeply connect with another person through the heart, maybe because of unresolved conflict, we can still practice to offer simple material gifts or a smile, to open the path of transformation wider.

It is also important to learn to express our needs and thoughts with one another to increase understanding. We can learn to do so with gentleness, openness, while remaining firm and solid.
We can also deepen our practice of the Five Mindfulness Trainings with our loved ones to help with this.

It is easier to practice when there is harmony in the sangha or with loved ones, although it is not always possible. When it is not possible, “60% of harmony is good enough”. With faith in our practice of mindfulness, we know that transformation is always possible, and we can continue to take solid steps on our path.

Are you aware of your body in daily life? Do you take time to pause and relax between activities? How do you start your day? Do you take a moment to touch a feeling of gratitude and joy for being alive? Let’s explore these and many more questions as we are gently guided by one of the eldest disciples of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh – Sr. Tu Nghiem (Sr. Elleni).

As a practitioner, we need to know how to nourish our body and mind with beauty through what we consume with our senses. We need to be aware of our body and mind, in order to recognize what causes us well-being and ill-being, so we can choose the direction in which we want to go. The Four Noble Truths and the Five Mindfulness Trainings will help us to live in a healthy, ethical and balanced way. They show us very concrete ways to help reduce the suffering around us.

What do you truly want for your life? Knowing this becomes a source of energy on our path. When we see our path clearly, we are no longer afraid.

Mindfulness is the energy of awareness that enables us to apply the practice in our daily life. This allows us to live our life in a way that is in line with our aspirations. We need to train ourselves to let go of our thinking and come back to our body and our breath.

Words for reflections from Sr. Tuệ Nghiêm:

1. What are your aspirations? What are your life’s purposes?
2. How do you practice to realize your aspirations?
3. What are the activities in your daily life that could become Dharma Doors to help you wake up and dwell deeply in the present moment?
4. Practice the mantra: Breathe, Smile, Accept.

Br. Minh Hy invites us to connect to great ancestral teachers who played a very important role in Thầy’s journey of renewing Buddhism. Inspired by their example, we can improve and refine our own practice, with faith and perseverance. We can make their practice come to life as we apply it to our current times, as Thầy has done throughout his life.

Indeed, the ancient Buddhist wisdom on the mind and the way out of suffering is timeless: the challenges of our society have their roots in afflictions that lie within our own mind. Learning to understand it, and to find appropriate practices for ourselves, is the way out of suffering.

This Dharma Talk was offered on the Memorial day of our Ancestral Teacher, Master Nhật Định, founder of our teacher Thầy’s root temple in Huê, Vietnam.

Reflection Questions & Home Practices

1. Note down the occurrences during the day when you are able to hold back words that may hurt others. How does it feel immediately and afterwards? How does it affect the people around you?

2. “Mindfulness of love and gratitude help us untie the internal knots” (Br. Minh Hy). Looking deeply into a situation in your life, are you able to see the myriad causes and conditions that have brought it about? Can you feel gratitude for some of those causes and conditions?

Sister Thuận Nghiêm (Sister Harmony) takes us along her life-long journey of transforming her way of thinking and speaking with the practice. She shares many true stories about the importance of checking our perceptions and speaking more humbly and lovingly.

The impact of our speech is immediate and wide. The quality of our relationships and of our inner peace depend a great deal on our way of speaking. This is also true of peace in the world. “We can start a war with words.”

Speaking, as well as listening, is an art. Thanks to our daily practice and the support of our community, we can learn to speak in a completely different way. Our words don’t need to come from a place of hurt and blindly follow our habit energies anymore. They can become an expression of our mindfulness and love, inspiring and touching the hearts of many people.

Reflection Questions (approved by Sr. Thuan Nghiem)

1. Words that inspire confidence, joy, hope

During the day, note three occasions when your words inspired confidence, joy, or hope. How did you feel afterwards? What were the conditions that allowed you to speak lovingly?


2. Shedding leaves

As we observe the dancing Autumn leaves around us, what are the leaves we can shed in our life to lighten our load? Perhaps certain possessions, ideas, projects, habits…?

3. A day of “Forget-you-not”

When you come together with sangha friends for an Evening or a Day of Mindfulness, how do you help each other to cultivate a concentrated energy of mindfulness, rather than a dispersed energy of a “flea market”?

“Do not abandon your aspiration too early!”

Through her own experience of fearlessness, hope, compassion, anger, and despair during the war in Vietnam, Sr. Chan Khong shares how she transformed unwholesome seeds through mindfulness practices in our Plum Village tradition.

Touching on difficult topics such as suicide, alcoholism and self judgements, Sr. Chan Khong showers us with practice songs and stories that touch the seeds of hope and transformation. Like a loving grandmother, she offers a lived wisdom of the Dharma and deep faith with openness. She emphasized the importance of choosing appropriate mindfulness practices that work for us given our personal preferences and circumstances, including hugging meditation, walking meditation, chopping vegetables, cooking, singing, dancing etc…

Thich Nhat Hanh answers questions during a retreat in Plum Village (May, 2014).

“Mindfulness of breathing is the great vehicle used by buddhas to save beings who are drifting.” – Master Khương Tăng Hội

Meditation Master Khương Tăng Hội, the first patriarch of Zen in Vietnam, was a great source of inspiration for our teacher Thầy to practice and develop Engaged Buddhism.

In this talk by Sr. Hội Nghiêm (English translation by Sr. Lăng Nghiêm) on the master’s Memorial Day, we learn how mindful breathing helps us to take care of our body and mind, to gradually let go of all afflictions and views that bind us. Practicing mindfulness in our daily life enables us to keep balance on our path of service. As our hearts become more free, our activism also gains a new, deeper dimension.

Sources:
Discourse on the Four Establishments of Mindfulness: https://plumvillage.org/library/sutras/discourse-on-the-four-establishments-of-mindfulness/

Discourse on the Full Awareness of Breathing: https://plumvillage.org/library/sutras/discourse-on-the-full-awareness-of-breathing/

Master Tăng Hội, book written by Thầy:
https://plumvillage.org/books/master-tang-hoi/

To watch the talk in Vietnamese (xem pháp thoại tiếng việt):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lh2Bvs9KcBs

Is Plum Village “engaged” enough today? Is our daily practice of mindfulness an appropriate answer to the problems our world is facing? If we look deeply at current issues such as war, injustice, or the climate crisis, we can understand their connection with our ways of thinking, speaking and acting.

In this panel, Br. Pháp Hữu, Br. Pháp Linh, and Sr. Hiến Nghiêm share their insights on Applied and Engaged Buddhism, drawing on our teacher’s life as a peace activist and a community builder.

Our teacher believed that deep understanding can only come about when we practice together as a Sangha, generating a powerful energy of mindfulness and concentration, giving rise to great insight. The power to help with compassion and resilience can be found within each one of us.

Sources for further reading:
In the following books, Thay shows us how we can bring about the radical change that our world needs:
– The World We Have
– Love letters to the Earth
– Zen and the art of saving the Planet

Nourishing ourselves with positive elements gives us the strength to heal from suffering. Without nourishment, we cannot heal.

The more we are aware of suffering, the more important it is to dwell peacefully, happily, and with compassion in the present moment. The present moment becomes a refuge preventing us from drowning in collective suffering. It gives us faith to move on and take action from a place of love.

Coming back to the present moment is already engaged Buddhsim. It is a daily training. Coming back to our breathing, listening to the bell, walking mindfully… are all practices that help us to generate the energy of mindfulness.

*******

Suggested Practice from Brother Pháp Ứng

Each day for one week, whenever you stop to breathe, put a hand on the heart and smiling, quietly say to yourself:

“I am loved
I am complete
I am nourishing and healing myself
Healing begins with myself right here, right now”

Every moment can be a moment of applied mindfulness that helps us to understand ourselves better.

In this first talk of the 2022 Rains Retreat, Sr. Chan Duc (“Sister True Virtue”) reminds us of the preciousness of having the opportunity to practice together for three months.

As human beings, we have a deep tendency to believe in a separate self and to strive in order to protect ourselves. Our non-stop thinking comes from this instinct of self-preservation. It stops us from being in touch with the wonders of life and the nature of interconnectedness of all that is.

Sr. Chan Duc shares ways that allow us to calm down our thinking and come back to the present moment. We need a calm and clear mind in order to help relieve the suffering of the world without being carried away.


*Majjhima Nikāya 20 The Removal of Distracting Thoughts (Sutra quoted by Sr. Chan Duc during the talk)


************

Practices for daily mindfully living mindfully from Sr. Từ Nghiêm based on Sr. Chan Duc’s talk


1. In the morning while waking up, silently recite the gatha:

Waking up this morning I smile
24 brand new hours are before me
I vow to live deeply in each moment
And to look at all beings with the eyes of compassion.

This gatha when recited as your first thoughts of the day sets your mind in the direction of positive and Right Thinking – to live mindfully and look at people and situations with understanding and compassion.

2. During the day:

Walking mindfully – to refresh the mind and renew mindfulness energy, and to ground you during challenging moments.

Each step in peace is a nourishment. Walk just to walk. If we walk without thinking, it calms the mind and body.


3. In the evening:

Think of one person or situation to whom you feel gratitude and appreciation. “I feel grateful for…”

Write it down in a gratitude notebook and come back to these gems when the mind meanders to negative realms.

Find creative ways to infuse your day with mindfulness. Return to the present moment again and again.

To be a soulmate, we must truly understand ourselves. Who am I? Why do I do the things I do and feel the ways I feel? How do I calm my mind and body and be at ease in different situations?

In this rare talk for teenagers (and the “forever teens at heart”), Sister Đẳng Nghiêm (“Sister D”) shows young people how to take care of their body and mind amidst the rapid changes of adolescence.

“Remember – Actions become habits. Habits become personalities. Personalities become destiny.”

2022 Summer Opening – “Foot of the Mountain Temple”, Plum Village France

More about Sister D:

https://plumvillage.org/people/dharma-teachers/sister-dang-nghiem/

In this kind and gentle talk, Sister Dang Nghiem relates her own journey of healing, and describes the path of true love as the process of becoming “our own soulmate”. She shares that we can begin by befriending our own breath and our own body. From this foundation, we are able to befriend our feelings and thoughts as well, and offer friendship and compassion to others.

Sister Dang Nghiem shares that as true love ripens in us, we learn to be careful about what we consume, with all our senses. We learn to see with the eyes of interbeing, including the interdependence of input and output. We see that nothing is lost, but that with skill, compassion, and persistence, everything can be transformed.

“In true love”, Sr Dang Nghiem tells us, “there must be healing”. With the help of our mindful breathing, we can learn to recognize habit energies and transform them: to learn and to train a new way of seeing and acting. We “walk out into the sunshine” as we learn to see that in this moment, we are already enough, and that we have enough. Then we are free to choose a simple life in order to practice stopping, dwelling happily in the present moment and looking deeply into the true nature of our experience. This practice opens the door to the insight of interbeing, and it is this insight which will bring deep and lasting healing to oursevles and those around us.

In this orientation from the Wake Up Humanity retreat, Brother Phap Huu, long-term attendant of zen master Thich Nhat Hanh (Thay), takes us on a journey as he relates stories of our teacher’s life and practice, and the genesis of the Plum Village Dharma Doors. We accompany Thay in his challenges, discoveries, and breakthroughs. We witness Thay returning again and again to the heart of the practice, as well as adapting and innovating its form, and we see how this brought him through many difficulties and allowed him to continue on the path of service.

Brother Phap Huu asks, as we are now living in a crucial moment for humanity, how can the practice of mindfulness help us to develop a new relationship with Mother Earth based on the insight of Interbeing?

Do we actually have a sustainable relationship with ourselves? Can we smile to ourselves when we make mistakes? Do we have an inner island to come back to?

Brother Phap Huu shares with us how our mindful breath and steps can become our foundation for such an authentic relationship with ourselves, others, and the Earth. We learn to come back to the present moment and to touch peace. Slowly and with the support of the Sangha, we also learn to recognize and embrace the experiences that have been transmitted to us by our ancestors. In our daily life, we learn to create moments just to be.

A rich sharing from long-time Plum Village practitioners who lived in Plum Village during each era from the 1980s to the present day.

For photographs of each era, see the slideshow of Plum Village across the years.

In this final talk of our June retreat “40 Years of Plum Village: Now We Have a Path, We Have Nothing More to Fear”, Sister Lang Nghiem invites us to train ourselves to recognize the present moment as a maturation of all our actions, including the experiences we received from our ancestors.

Indeed, store consciousness has the capacity to store all our actions of body, speech and mind as seeds. These seeds manifest in our life when conditions are sufficient, even if it takes many years. Nothing is lost.

How can the practice of mindfulness help us to regain sovereignty over the seeds that manifest in our lives? How can we bring peace, happiness and harmony through our actions? How can we embrace and transform the unwholesome seeds that were transmitted to us?

The Fourth Seal of Plum Village, Ripening at every moment, has four aspects that sister Lang Nghiem explores during this Dharma Talk:

1. Ripening at different times
2. Ripening of different conditions
3. Ripening in different forms
4. Ripening in different places

In this fifth talk of our June retreat “40 Years of Plum Village: Now We Have a Path, We Have Nothing More to Fear”, elder brother Pháp Ứng offers a heartfelt talk rich with poetry, music, and a video to share with us about the third Dharma Seal of PV: the “times” (past, present, and future) and the “truths” (conventional and ultimate; and the Four Noble Truths) inter-are. He shares that it is possible to realize this truth through the practice of the first two Plum Village Dharma Seals, “I have arrived, I am home”, and “Go as a river”.

Seeing that our ancestors and descendants are all present in us right now, we feel full and complete, and this also helps us to dwell happily in the present moment. With our mindful breathing and walking, we are able to take good care of both, and practice in such a way that we are nourished immediately: “there is no way to happiness; happiness is the way”.

Brother Pháp Ứng shares that by touching the Right View of inter-dependent co-arising (“this is, because that is”) is very practical, and helps us care for the suffering that is arising in the present moment. It protects us from drowning in that suffering and transforms it at the same time.

Brother Pháp Ứng shares that touching deeply the suffering of the relative dimension gives rise very naturally to the love and understanding that allow us to be in touch with the ultimate dimension of no birth and no death. In fact, he says, when we have the practice it is even good that the suffering of birth and death is so painful. Letting ourselves really feel that pain, we make a deep vow to get to the bottom of it, to learn to truly dwell happily in the present moment and see that everything is already a wonder: “the fresh air is already there, we just have to open the door and let it in.”

“Let the Buddha breathe, I don’t need to breathe”.

Can we take refuge in our Buddha nature when times are hard? If we can manage to find some peace within, we become a solid refuge for ourselves, our loved ones and the world.

this Dharma Talk was recorded on 11th May 2023 in the Upper Hamlet, Plum Village France.

In this fourth Dharma talk of our 40 Years Retreat, “Now We Have a Path: We Have Nothing More to Fear”, Brother Phap Linh shares how we can recognize trauma in ourselves and those around us, as well as how we can care for it and help it to heal. He describes David Treleaven’s five principles of Trauma Sensitive Mindfulness, and relates these principles to our practice in the Plum Village community. He suggests, for example, that communal practices such as Dharma sharing, sharing mindful meals, and walking meditation can also be seen as powerful means of “co-regulation”, establishing a safe ground on which we can enjoy walking together the path of mindfulness, understanding, and love.

Brother Phap Linh shares that shares that when we root ourselves in a deep confidence based on personal experience and time-tested traditions and practices, we can also open and allow these traditions to be enriched by other frameworks and modes of inquiry. He relates his own process of embracing and healing deep trauma by entrusting himself completely to basic practices such as walking meditation. He shares that deep freedom and healing, as well as effective engagement to relieve suffering in the world, is possible when we learn to be in touch with the ultimate dimension and dwell happily in the present moment.

Have you ever felt a sense of deep belonging to a group with a shared aspiration and way of living?

Did you feel safe enough to entrust yourself in that group and flow together in the same direction?

How can we “go as a river” in a way that brings happiness and helps realize our dream to serve?

This talk in our 40 Years of Plum Village Retreat, “Now We Have a Path; We Have Nothing More to Fear”, is offered by our elder sister Định Nghiêm, who spent more than six years alongside of our teacher Thay (zen master Thich Nhat Hanh) after his strokes in 2014. Returning to Plum Village after an absence of several years, Sr Định Nghiêm conveys a deep warmth and understanding of Thay and the community in this intimate sharing. We hope you will be able to offer yourself the time and space to fully savor and enjoy this talk with us.

Sr Định Nghiêm tells us that a drop of water may evaporate or lose its way, but if that drop of water can become part of the river, it will reach the ocean. The river of sangha, community that practices the way of non-violence and compassion, has been flowing for a long time. We may fear that by harmonizing with, by becoming one with the river we will lose our individuality and beauty. Yet when we look at the sangha around us and reflect on our experience in the sangha, we may see that it is watering our good seeds and helping bring out the best in each of us; that together, we are much stronger, more able to find healing and joy, to relieve the suffering around us and be of service to the world.

With gentleness, skill, and warmth, Sr Định Nghiêm tells us the story of our own sangha river as it has widened and deepened, from Thay’s youth, through the crucible of war and violent resistance, to the present day. We listen to a beautiful recording of a brother singing Thay’s poem “Recommendation”. Thay wrote this poem as a young monk in 1965 to offer guidance to the many students continuing his work in Vietnam, shortly before learning that he had been his exiled from his homeland

Sr Định Nghiêm shares about the essence of Plum Village practice, Thay’s great joy upon discovering such jewels as the “Discourse on the Full Awareness of Breathing”, and how to live happily in the sangha, “as a river”. She concludes by reminding us of all the favorable conditions we have inherited after so much struggle, and by singing the same deeply moving song she sang less than five months ago at Thay’s memorial service near Hue, Vietnam: “Chanson du Bonheur”

Discourse on the Full Awareness of Breathing: https://plumvillage.org/library/sutras/discourse-on-the-full-awareness-of-breathing/

Thay’s poem “Recommendation”, with his description of its origins and meaning: https://plumvillage.org/articles/recommendation/

Br. Phap Huu offers his experiences and insights on practicing “I have arrived, I am home”, the First Seal of Plum Village practice. He shares poignant moments by Thay’s side for us to have a taste of Thay’s great wisdom and love.

Arriving in our body and mind in order to recognize, embrace and accept what is going on inside and around us is the essence of the Buddha’s teaching. As we experience the practice first hand, we develop confidence in our own ability to arrive in the present moment and touch the wonders of life as well as the quality of freedom that is always there.

Can we arrive in ourselves and be there for ourselves, accept ourselves and our ancestors?

Inside each of us is a meditator, an artist and a warrior. As we walk on the path of practice with spiritual friends, we develop these three qualities, which in turn help us to cultivate joy and face challenges with courage and peace.

Please participate in supporting Thich Nhat Hanh’s community and legacy at: https://plumvillage.org/support

Do you feel you have found a path that helps you to live with freedom, and without fear? How can we learn to see such a path clearly in every moment, and develop a confidence in it that is unshakeable?

In this retreat we celebrate 40 Years of Plum Village, with the theme “Now We Have a Path: We Have Nothing More to Fear”. In this first talk of the retreat, respected elder Sister Chan Duc tells us that faith in our path is a kind of power, if this faith is not only belief but a deep confidence born from our experience and understanding of the path. She offers us eight English words which our teacher Thay (zen master Thich Nhat Hanh) used to sum up the Plum Village path of practice. These words are the first two of the Four Plum Village “Dharma Seals”, or marks of authenticity, and if we practice them well, we will realize the essence of the third and fourth Seals as well.

In 2004, Thay offered this summary of the Plum Village practice: “Arrived, at home. Go as a river: sangha-body”. To practice “I have arrived, I am at home” means to dwell happily in the present moment. The practices of mindful breathing, walking, eating, and working can all support us as we learn to arrive in every moment, in any place or circumstance: even when we suffer, if we can stay “at home” with that suffering, we still have freedom. To “go as a river” means to learn in live in harmony with our spiritual community. It requires training to be able to live as a cell in the “sangha body”, nourishing and being nourished by that body. Sr Chan Duc tells us that the life’s work of Thay and the Buddha has been to build sangha, because they know it is only through the sangha that they are able to continue far and beautifully into the future. When difficulty arises, we stick with our sangha. We learn to embrace that difficulty and to look deeply together in order to transform it and to continue flowing as one river.

Practicing these first two Plum Village Dharma Seals, we are also able to realize the third and the fourth. The third Seal is that “the times and truths inter-are”. Because the past, present, and future inter-are, we can live in the present in a way that shines light on the past and future yet are not caught in or burdened by either. We can live with freedom in the world of “conventional truth” by being in touch with the “ultimate truth”, the Middle Way that goes beyond concepts and extreme views. When we see clearly the nature our suffering (the first Noble Truth), we can also see that in this very moment it already contains not only its roots but also the path that leads to liberation from it (the second, third, and fourth Noble Truths).

The fourth Dharma Seal is “Ripening, moment-by-moment”. This means that we do not have to wait until we die for our karma, our actions of body, speech, and mind, to ripen; and that this ripening does not require a permanent and separate self. Our body and consciousness are in continual transformation, arising in every moment due to innumerable causes and conditions. These causes and conditions include our actions of body, speech, and mind. By learning to direct these actions along the path of understanding and love, we can overcome fear and learn to live in happiness, safety, and freedom.

The word Bodhisattva means “awakened being”. In the text Invoking the Bodhisatva’s Names, written by Thich Nhat Hanh, 5 Bodhisattvas are mentioned who represent qualities we can all uncover in ourselves.  In this talk, Sister Tu Nghiem offers us an explanation of this text.

You can find the text here. The Plum Village Chanting Book is available here.

This talk, the first in our Rains Retreat, was offered by Brother Phap Huu from the New Hamlet of Plum Village, France.

Brother Phap Huu introduces the 2021 Rains Retreat: Gems of the Plum Village Tradition.

What are we made of? What do we transmit to the future, and to the world? How do we connect to our ancestors, understand them, and see how we continue them? How can we practice, so that our practice is an “offering of the heart”?

Sister Đào Nghiêm offers this is rich and personal Dharma talk in memory of her father, for the anniversary of his passing. She shares how we can understand our ancestors, and what they have transmitted to us. This understanding will help us to accept what we have received, to see that it is not truly “us”, not “ours”. She leads us in a guided meditation to helps us see what we, in turn, transmit to the future: “My actions are my true continuation”.

Each moment, each step taken in mindfulness, peace, and joy, are a gift we offer in every direction. When we see each moment in the light of impermanence, recognizing the contribution of our actions, we will find it easier to be patient. We will see more clearly our aspiration; what we want to transmit to the future. Seeing this can help us identify the true motivation behind each action, and find the determination and insight to transform our habits. Seeing clearly all we have received, and what we truly want to transmit, our practice becomes an “Offering of the Heart”.

This talk includes a poem by the beloved Irish poet John O’Donohue (“A Morning Offering”, 0:12:43:00), followed by a song from our monastic brothersd and sisters (“Watering Seeds of Joy”).

What *is* meditation, or mindfulness? Can it be used as a panic room? What is its purpose? What do we need to know to practice it safely and successfully?

In this sincere and tender dharma talk from December 2020, Br. Phap Linh (“Brother Spirit”) shares that the practice of meditation has to do with how we relate to the real suffering we face every day in ourselves and in the world. He describes honestly some of the challenges and questions we may face along that path, and emphasizes the importance of finding spiritual friends and spiritual community with whom to share our life and our practice. This makes the practice more joyful, and helps us to support each other and overcome even the greatest difficulties along the way.

A talk from 7 March based on questions that people have sent in.

Offered for Mountain Spring Monastery in Australia and the Compassionate Ocean Sangha: www.mountainspringmonastery.org, www.compassionateoceansangha.org.

You can support this podcast at https://dana.plumvillage.org/

As we come in touch with the newly blooming flowers and the rising bird-song of Spring, Sr. Từ Nghiêm guides us in inquiring: how may we offer Spring cleaning and renewal to our body, and to our mind?

In this warm and image-rich talk, our elder sister shares practical and deep guidance about how to care for and refresh ourselves, and how to develop our compassion and our understanding as we walk the Bodhisattva path: the path of an “awakening being” who is learning to be of service to all life.

She begins with the invitation to “stop”: to rest our body and mind, in order to touch the wonders of life and to be able to look deeply and see reality clearly. She offers us this haiku by Basho, which resonates with this moment of the year, and the spirit of her talk:

Sitting quietly,
doing nothing. Spring comes,
and the grass grows by itself.

She encourages us to see difficulties as an opportunity to grow our love, and our capacity– and not to lose sight of the beautiful and wondrous things that are still present inside us and around us. She gently reminds us, “the birds are still singing”

You can support us by donating: https://plumvillage.org/support

In this Dharma talk offered on 17th January 2021, Sister Boi Nghiem (Sister True Pearl) teases apart the light and shadow constructs of ‘normality’. By looking deeply at the Vietnamese words, bình thường (normal), we can see the light elements of bình as peace (bình an), calm (bình tĩnh) or recovery (bình phục) and the shadow elements of thường as abnormal (bất thường), strange (lạ thường) or low (tầm thường). Observing our patterned way of thinking can awaken us to these contrasting elements that we define as normal. This awareness can challenge us when normality leads to fear, e.g. systemic racism, or leads to recovery, e.g. witnessing the daily miracles of life.

When Thay teaches us about Right Thinking in his book, “The Heart of the Buddha’s Thinking”, he asks us to pose the question, “Are You Sure”, when observing our mental formations. In this way, we can tease apart the elements of ‘normal’ and do a course correction if we are normalizing the abnormal. This can mindfully return us to the bình side of normal….to a place of clarity and peace.

Through Sister Boi Nghiem’s intimate, poignant and delightful personal stories, we can learn to embrace our normal, ordinary, daily occurrences and transform them into present-moment miracles. We can then be careful of our conclusions of others and see the Buddha in everyone.

The video version of this talk is available on the Plum Village YouTube Channel.

You can support us by donating: https://plumvillage.org/support

“For me, hope is right now. We can realize the virtue of hope by dwelling in the present moment.”

In this talk, offered on the eve of New Year’s Day 2021, Sister Chân Đức shares about the path of True Love, with the four elements of lovingkindness, compassion, joy, and inclusiveness. This is a great gift which we offer to ourselves, our relationships and community, and Mother Earth. By cultivating the seeds of True Love that are available to us in the present moment, we can ensure a beautiful future.

Sr. Chân Đức is a senior Dharma teacher in the Plum Village tradition.
https://plumvillage.org/monastics/dharma-teachers/sr-chan-duc/

***
You can support us by donating: https://plumvillage.org/support

This talk was offered on 3rd December 2020.

Where can we go to be truly safe in the most difficult moments?
Do we know how to come back to that safe place and dwell there whenever we need?

In the “Discourse on Taking Refuge in Oneself”, the Buddha encouraged his students to “return to yourself in order to take refuge in the Dharma, and not to take refuge in any other island or thing.” (https://wkup.org/discourse-on-taking-refuge-in-oneself/)

In this clear, timely, and powerful talk, our respected elder sister Chân Đức explores how we cultivate such an island of safety within ourselves so that it is available to us whenever we need it. We often look outside ourselves to find a refuge, she says, but if we are not stable and solid in ourselves, nothing outside of us can offer that solidity to us.

Sr. Chân Đức describes how, like a turtle retracting its four limbs, its head and its tail, we can guard our six sense doors (five physical senses and mind) and come back to mindfulness of our breathing and our body. Doing this, our mind is protected and concentrated. She shares how, with concentration, we can train to see the impermanent and “signless” nature of all phenomena (everything we can perceive), including our own joy and pain. In this way we no longer take refuge in false views of ourselves and the world, and our direct contact with reality (insight) returns us to our inner island of true freedom and solidity.

* *

Registration is open now for end-of-the-year Online Retreats: www.plumvillage.org/retreats

You can support us by: donating: https://plumvillage.org/support